The detained activists were brought to the Esil District police department in Astana. Their mobile phones and cameras were confiscated.

The protest was organized on the same day as the presidents of Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Russia are meeting in Astana to sign the agreement on the establishment of the EES.

On May 27, seven activists and three journalists, including RFE/RL correspondent Orken Zhoyamergen, were sentenced to up to four days in jail after they were detained while covering an anti-EES gathering in a town near Astana.